


A Visit

by LostEscapist



Category: The Shadow Campaigns - Django Wexler
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-19
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-27 01:57:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5029276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostEscapist/pseuds/LostEscapist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raesinia visits Marcus while he is recovering after the end of Price of Valor. But as it often is in The Shadow Campaigns, things are more than they seem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Visit

**Author's Note:**

> Since this takes place after Price of Valor, and the series isn't over yet, it will be rendered obsolete when the 4th book comes out. But I just felt like writing this now.

**Marcus**

Marcus woke up to someone prodding him, gently but eagerly. He opened his eyes to find Raesinia sitting by his bed side. She was wearing a dress, and though it wasn’t one of her court gowns, it still seemed strange to see her in one, instead of the trousers she had worn during their time together. It made him oddly disappointed, though of course she could not go back to her street clothes now she was queen again. _She had always been queen, though she had always managed to make me forget that fact…_

“Your majesty?” Marcus asked, a little uncertainly, unsure what to call her.

She looked up at him and her eyes lit up. “Marcus! No, it’s okay, you can just call me Raesinia when we’re alone. I’ve really been meaning to see you sooner, but there have been… difficulties. I’m sorry for waking you, but I wanted to talk without interruption, and this is the only time I could arrange it.”

“N—No, that’s alright. I wasn’t really expecting you.”

“What? Why?” She said, her voice tinged with a bit of anger.

“I thought…” He’d thought that now the danger was passed and everything had settled down, she would just distance herself from him. She was his queen, after all, and he had fulfilled his duties. There was nothing between them, really. Was there?

“Knowing you, I’m sure you thought something stupid.” She interjected, “Now, how are you feeling?”

“As well as can be expected,” he sighed. “The leg still hurts, but it feels a lot better than it had. The doctor has assured me it’s not going to fester, but I’ll probably have a limp. I was… really lucky.”

Raesinia put her hand in Marcus’s. “I’m glad,” she said, smiling. “I’d looked in on you once before, but I don’t think you were… fully conscious, so you probably don’t remember.”

Of course, she meant that he’d been delirious with pain and fever. He looked away, hoping he hadn’t distressed her too much.

“I need to thank you,” she said. “You saved Sothe’s life. And most likely mine as well, along with thousands of others.”

“It’s… nothing. I was only doing my duty.”

She smiled. “Liar. You did a lot more than that. You saved Vordan. You saved me. Thank you.”

She bent down and, before he could protest, kissed his cheek. Her lips lingered a little, and left a strange warmth behind them. Her hand was back in his.

He realized his cheeks were warm. He cleared his throat to banish his embarrassment

“Sothe told me that you had convinced her to help defeat the Penitent, instead of rushing in to save me,” Raesinia said.

Oddly, she seemed happy about that. No, he decided, it wasn’t odd at all. It felt as though he’d gotten to know her pretty well in the time they spent together. Better than a soldier ought to know his queen, maybe. He wasn’t really sorry, though. She wasn’t merely his queen now – she was Raesinia. For better or worse.

She breathed in deeply. “You… don’t know how much that means to me. No one has ever done that before.”

“Convincing someone not to rescue you?” Marcus asked, a little puzzled.

“Thinking of what I actually wanted, instead of blindly rushing in to save me. Trust me to take care of myself. I’ve lost too many people because they foolishly gave their lives for mine.”

“Raesinia, I would have gone to rescue you myself, but—“

“I know, Marcus. If there was any hope. If the penitent wasn’t planning something quite so… monstrous. If my life actually had been in danger. I know you better than you seem to give me credit for.”

They were silent for a time.

Finally, she spoke again. “Marcus, we need to pretend to others that I am nothing more than your queen and you are nothing more than my soldier. But we shouldn’t pretend to each other.”

“What if someone overhears us?”

“I’ve worked very hard to make sure no one overhears us this time. But in the future, people will overhear us. It’s almost certain. Despite my efforts, I’m not invisible, and my visit to you will be noticed and remarked upon. In fact, there are probably a dozen stories about us spreading across the city as we speak.” She blushed a little. Marcus understood why, knowing exactly what sorts of stories will be repeated most often.

“Then, why come here?”

“Because I don’t mind the stories. There are stories about everything I do. And this story is not a bad one at all. The queen has come to check up on a wounded war hero. You could spin it in different ways, but it’s essentially a harmless story. If anything, it might be a good one. People will like it, and might like me for it.”

Marcus frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The people of Vordan aren’t sure what they want their queen to do. But I think I know what they want their queen to be. They want someone who represents the best about them – the Vordanai. They want someone who stands shoulder to shoulder with all of their heroes, and if they are common-born, all the better. So me visiting you, a wounded, common-born hero, is exactly the sort of thing they will take pride in.” She chuckled, “In fact, people would love it if I were to marry someone like that.”

Marcus took a moment to process this statement. Several things stuck out as badly wrong. He would have to go over them one after the other. “People see me… as a hero?” He said.

Raesinia’s brow rose in surprise. “Of course they do. Do you really think what you did went by unnoticed? There are all kinds of stories. Some of them say you slew _Maurisk’s Demon_ single-handed. Many in the docks still remember how you fed and rescued them from the seedies and the Patriot Guard.”

“But I didn’t do any of that. That was you and Cora and Mrs. Felda’s church. And Maurisk’s Demon? What?”

Raesinia seemed to be enjoying his consternation, her smile growing wider with every sentence. “Well, let’s just say that you need to catch up a little on recent events. If you want to lead a quiet, solitary life, I suggest you stop saving Vordan. Though I understand that might be a hard habit to break.”

Finally, Marcus said, “You said you were… marrying someone?”

“Me? Oh, no. Not yet, anyway. It is what they expect. I said that they will want me to marry someone who is common-born. A hero. People will like that a lot.”

“Like Janus,” Marcus guessed.

Raesinia grimaced with distaste. “No. I am not going to marry him. And he is a Count, not a commoner.” After a short pause, she added, “I didn’t say I will marry someone common-born. I just said it’s… possible. I don’t intend to choose a husband based on who gives me the most political advantage.”

“And your husband, he will be king of Vordan?”

“Yes, of course. King consort, but still king.” She smiled, “He will be doomed to the same miserable life I lead.”

Marcus smiled. “I’m sure being your husband carries its own… unique advantages, whether you are queen or not.”

Raesinia blushed slightly, but her smile grew broader, and her eyes twinkled mischievously. “Oh? And what would those advantages be?”

Now, that, caught him by total surprise. He felt himself blushing, unable to speak. He felt as though with a single misplaced step, he’d fallen into a pit with no way out. A couple of retorts sprang into his mind, but there was no way he could use any of them. They would only dig him in deeper.

Raesinia laughed; a deep, sweet melody. “I’m sorry. That was a little too hard to resist.” She schooled her features, and said, a little too solemnly, “thank you for your compliment.”

She bent down and kissed his cheek again. Her face seemed to linger over his for an instant, and he could feel the warmth of her breath on his face.

He groaned inwardly. _Whoever she marries, he is going to be one lucky bastard._

Belatedly, he realized that in his small way, he had tried to flirt with the queen of Vordan, and she had responded in kind. But it was harder and harder to see the queen of Vordan as anything but a thin mask that Raesinia wore. And he hadn’t actually tried to flirt with the mask, but with Raesinia. Which was… much easier to believe.

He glanced over at her, looking in all the places he had forced himself to ignore. Yes, it was certainly easier to believe. Abruptly, he realized that he wanted her. Quite badly. Even in his wounded state. _She is still my queen, dammit. My queen. Even if things are… different now. Not to mention more than ten years younger than me. Even if she is –_

“Marcus?” She said, her voice a little tense, a little amused. She put her hands on his body, as though to prompt him to look back at her.

He turned back to find her looking down at him, a small wolfish grin on her face, as though he was a meal she intended to savor.

Then she bent down and kissed him. It started out delicate, their lips touching and pressing together. He reached up, almost thinking of pushing her away, but took her face in his hands instead. She smiled into the kiss, her mouth opening slightly, inviting. And then he could taste her mouth, and feel her own tongue against his, tentative but no less eager.

They disconnected for a few seconds, but evidently not enough time for him to come to his senses, because her face was still in his hands. She clambered over him, parting her skirts to sit astride his chest, careful not to bruise his leg. And then her mouth was on his again, so soft, so wonderful. Her lips made him forget all about queens, of Vordan and otherwise. She filled the world. Her scent, her touch, her taste. The warmth of her body against his.

He found that he had just enough sense not to let his hands run around aimlessly on her body, and for the most part her own remained on his chest or his shoulders. He was too unfamiliar with this alien world he found himself in, where queens could love or be loved – or, at least, lust or be lusted after – and he was going to have to tread very carefully. This is why he did not put his hands on her thighs, nor push up her skirts, nor do any of the other million things some parts of his body were encouraging him to do.

They finally disconnected, both flushed. She had a strange smile on her face, and he judged that he had one too. “So, this was kissing,” she finally said, breathless. “I can see why people like it so much.”

“You’ve never kissed before?” He said, his conscious mind still lagging behind events, the shock of what had just happened failing to register.

She shrugged. “I was a princess. There were strict rules about who we could kiss and how we couldn’t. And I never found anyone I wanted to kiss in the first place.”

“And there are no rules anymore?”

“I told you. There are still rules, but different ones. Kissing you for example,” she smiled, “is something that might be okay, if given the right spin. Luckily, you are also someone I want to kiss.

He reddened, and she laughed. “I’m not sure how you can be embarrassed at me wanting to kiss you. We did it just now.” But he saw she was reddening as well. And smiling. And happy.

Maybe it might be better to leave sense behind. Just for a few more minutes. Deal with everything else later. Right now, he just wanted her lips on his.

**Raesinia**

They kissed some more. She was really starting to understand why kissing was such a big deal. At least, if you did it with the right partner. She suspected Marcus wanted a little more than just kissing, and was somewhat excited herself at the prospect, but nothing ever materialized.

She almost missed the three rhythmic knocks at the door. It was Sothe, telling her that time was almost running out. “Marcus, I have to go.” She whispered to him. He said nothing. His arms still held her though.

“Will you… come back?” He finally asked.

“Of course I will. I’ll come and see you later today. Alright?”

“Yeah. I’d… like that.” He sounded a little shell-shocked.

“I won’t be able to promise the same kind of privacy, though, and the visit will have to be brief. I just want to… check up on your leg. Make sure I didn’t hurt anything.” She winked.

Marcus blushed. “That’s alright.” He said finally.

She clambered off him. She straightened out her skirts as Marcus looked on, a small smile on his face. She suspected that it mirrored her own, which meant she looked quite silly indeed.

Her mind was abuzz when she left Marcus’s rooms, that smile still on her face. He probably thought she wanted to see him again just to see him. That was true of course, but more importantly she suspected that she should not leave him to simmer in his own guilt for too long. He might end up pulling away from her. But some guilt was to be expected – he had just kissed his queen, after all. And wanted to do more besides.

So it worked. Not exactly as she had planned it, true. But she hadn’t remained as unaffected as she had feared. She smiled inwardly, remembering the taste of his lips, the feeling of his stubble pricking her cheeks. Her hands itched to feel his chest once more, to slip around his body, to pull him close… No, she was very much affected. Quite a bit, in fact. She stifled a giggle.

So it’s not really like using him. Not if she felt the same way. Just because she wasn’t blind to politics and had ulterior motives doesn’t make her the same as, for example, Orlanko. Or even Janus. She wasn’t sure if she loved him – she still wasn’t sure if she could love anyone, in fact – but whatever she felt towards him, it was definitely something.

But in the end, as she blindly walked through the palace corridors to her apartments, the nagging feeling of guilt did not escape her, no matter how she justified her actions.

Janus could not really betray her – he had everything he could ever want, and she was not so naïve to think he would really step down after the wars were over. The days of a ruling Orboan line were done, one way or another. There seemed nothing to betray. But the words of the Steel Ghost kept ringing in her head…

_“Be wary of Vhalnich. He plans deep”_

She shivered. _And if Janus never betrays Vordan, nothing will happen, and it would be as though I had never used Marcus at all. Then, what I just did would be simply acting based on my desires._

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this was a little difficult actually, because I didn't see any way of getting them together without some complicated plot-line that I didn't feel like writing. In the end, I made the two characters more forward than I thought they might be.


End file.
